Michiko Araki
Football can have a powerful impact on someone’s life. For left tackle Tommie Draheim, reflecting on his time with the sport reveals how much of an effect football has had on his life on and off the field.
Growing up in Lakeside (San Diego), California, Tommie started playing football out of interest, just like most other kids his age.
“I always liked watching football with my dad,” he recalls. “I always liked college football, always liked the NFL and right around 4th grade that’s when both me and my brother decided we were going to start playing sports. He went the baseball route and I went the football route.”
Coming from an athletic family, sports had always been a big part of his family’s life. His mother ran track, while his father also played football. When his parents went through a divorce at a young age, Tommie found that he needed football more than ever.
“My parents divorced at a young age. I also think that’s why I turned to football,” he says. “Having a lot of positive role models in my life and you know, especially with my dad moving to Utah, it was crucial that I had those people in my life.”
At an emotional time in his life, football provided the support he needed to help him cope with the big changes that were happening at the time. During these difficult times, he met someone who would have a resounding impact on his life at El Capitan High school in Lakeside, California.
“My high school coach growing up, Ron Burner, was probably my biggest mentor and supporter through those trying times I had throughout high school,” he says. “He’s a crucial part of getting me to where I am today and I cannot thank him enough for what he’s done.”
At El Capitan, being surrounded by positive role models like Coach Burner helped Tommie build a great support system, friendships, and most importantly, memories he’ll always remember many years down the road.
“When I was young, it was always fun to just be out there, and hang out with your friends. We (at Lakeside) had a smaller kind of community, so I played high school football with a lot of the guys I grew up with, so you’re having fun with your friends, your boys, all the time. So you know, just growing up with them, playing with them, winning on game days on Fridays, it was just, this is awesome, football, this is why we do it and you know, it was always fun that way.”
Aside from the bonds football helped create with the guys he grew up with, football also allowed him to pursue a post-secondary education and continue playing the sport he loved after graduating from El Capitan.
“I would say, going undefeated my senior year in high school [is one of my favourite football memories],” he recalls. “We finished off the regular season 10-0 and we were the first team to do that in my high school, so, you know to share that with my friends and family and using that as a platform to put me into college, I’d say that was one of my favorite memories.”
After that successful senior year, Tommie committed to the San Diego State Aztecs. With the Aztecs, he had a stellar career and earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors as a senior to become the first Aztec offensive lineman to be named first-team all-league since 2003. He also helped the Aztecs make two bowl appearances, winning the Poinsettia Bowl in 2010 against Navy, and coming just short of a win in the New Orleans Bowl in 2011 against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Now the first professional football player in his family, Tommie has a lot to be thankful for.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot of lessons,” he explains. “Perseverance is one of the biggest ones. Just dedication and hard work. There’s a lot of things that happened in my life that, you know, I don’t really think I could get through without football and teammates, and especially coaches and mentors that I had. “
With the perseverance he has shown throughout his time with the sport, Tommie is ready to make an impact on the o-line this season.
“Each play is a different battle and a different challenge, whether it is run blocking or pass blocking,” he says. “You know, if you had a bad play before, you got to get that out of your head and you know if you had a good play before you can’t sit back and think it’s going to be easy. As cliché as it is, you got to take it one play at a time.”
As Tommie has learned, taking everything one play at a time has been the key to success in football, and most importantly, in life.